


O' Captain, Mai Captain!

by idontknowhowtoread (heatherpotts)



Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F, Gen, also. whaling au i guess dfgjh, and i will never apologize!!!, nothing but vibes fo today, some descriptions of dyin and also whaling but nothing much fdhgdf, this appeals to an audience of exactly one person and that mf is me!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:40:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherpotts/pseuds/idontknowhowtoread
Summary: Captain Mai Sasaki and the crew of the Morning Glory encounter the most incompetent pirates to ever sail the seas.
Relationships: Hana Mizuno/Mai Sasaki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	O' Captain, Mai Captain!

**Author's Note:**

> this is for asagao august that mf event barely happened and im a day late but its here!! i just care a lot about whaling and pirates and sea shanties i am just standing here.. also big shout out to the miss demeanor dnd streams i care so much about jirards character fhgjg he is the blueprint for this fic honestly
> 
> but yes enjoy dfhjdf :okaysmile:

“Now what the absolute  _ devil  _ is that?”

Mai stepped out onto the bow of the ship, her coat fluttering in the wind, straining to see  _ whatever it was  _ out on the evening horizon. Her mates gathered around her; her first, Hana, held onto Mai’s arm, pink hair fluttering in the wind and seeming very concerned. Her second, Satch, had one hand on the railing, and the other tightly gripping his harpoon, also fixated on the distant object. Her third, Jirard, stood right by Mai, spyglass in hand. 

“Uh- ‘pears to be a ship, captain,” Jirard replied, lowering his spyglass and scratching his beard. “But I can’t be sure whose, it’s-”

“Do you think they’re friendly? Maybe they’re another whaling ship?” Hana inquired, also craning her neck to make out the supposed ship.

“I don’t know, I- Looks a bit small for a whaling ship, but guess I can’t be sure.” 

Mai grunted, the realization setting in that this was almost  _ certainly  _ going to be a problem, and just the thought of the conflict was already giving her a headache. It was  _ too damn late  _ for this bullshit- but as she squinted to see the ship on the horizon, coming closer into view with every passing second, she knew deep down that this wasn’t a confrontation that could be avoided. 

Really, she was just holding out hope that the mysterious newcomer was another whaling ship- Jirard said the ship seemed small, but on all accounts, so was theirs. Even if it was another whaling ship, fellow sailors weren’t always the most friendly. Mai was well aware these were  _ competitive  _ waters- and if they weren’t another whaling ship, the alternatives could only grow more grim. Be they the navy, or privateers, or- well, devil forbid...

“What about a flag? Anything there?” Mai continued, beginning to mentally prepare for rallying up the crew.

“I- Hm,” Jirard started, raising the spyglass to his eye once again. “There… There’s certainly a flag, but… It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“Can you describe it?” Hana asked, notably picking up on Mai’s agitation and urging them all to a conclusion.

“Uh- Well, there’s a black background, looks like gold trim around it- I’m… not sure what’s in the center, it…”

“Mind if I have a look, sir?” Satch stepped up next to Jirard, his voice completely calm.

“Oh- Go right ahead,” Jirard quickly agreed, handing the wooden spyglass to his superior. 

“... What on earth?” Satch muttered, after only a few moments of looking through the spyglass- which didn’t signal anything good to the rest of the crew. 

“Captain, should I find the deckhands?” Hana urged once again, already half rearing to go. 

“Ah- Nay, actually, I want you up here with me- But run and wake up Austin’s useless ass and get him down from the crow’s nest, have him do it,” Mai ordered, to which Hana’s eyes widened in disbelief. “After that, come back here.”

“Ah- Wh- He’s  _ still-”  _ Hana sputtered, squinting up at the crow’s nest and shielding her eyes from the sun- seeming to find that Austin’s useless ass was, in fact, still up there, entirely unaware of the present situation. She sighed, almost aggressively fixing her coat- “ _ Aye, captain!” _

Hana then dashed off towards the middle of the ship, the sight of which briefly eased Mai’s mind, purely due to how cute her first mate was- but that momentary ease was, of course, very much momentary. 

She was sure that she and Hana would have another argument later that evening over who should get reign over the crow’s nest- Hana was always quick to defend Austin, professing that being a lookout was just simply not one of his strengths, but would then proceed to nominate literally  _ every  _ other member of the crew. To which, Mai would dismiss each one:  _ I strongly advise against separating one member from the trio for such a long period of time as a shift on the crow’s nest- at best, the lookout will be miserable and unable to focus, and at worst, the three of them will all try to fit up there and possibly fall to their deaths; Shane is much too stoic to shout loud enough to be heard, and I’m doubtful that he would even care about any whales blowing- and you, Satch, and Jirard are much too busy being my trusted and closest mates to attend such a trivial matter.  _

And then, they would once again be caught at a stalemate, and Austin would continue to be assigned to the crow’s nest. Mai could admit, it was essentially her fault- having such a small crew was doomed to be riddled with downsides such as that. But they managed- they’d been at sea for months, chased and killed exactly one (1) whale so far, and nobody had died or been seriously injured yet. At least, not to Mai’s knowledge- and that was really all she could ask for.

But maybe, today would be that dreaded day, if things went sour. Mai needed to be sure that her crew  _ survived  _ into the evening so that she could have that argument, and she knew she didn’t have much time to waste. 

“Anything, Satch?” Mai asked again, tapping her foot restlessly against the wood.

“I… Still, I can’t be sure- It certainly doesn’t look like anything on the registry-” Satch answered, not breaking his focus on the flag. “I’d have to echo what Jirard said; black background, gold trim, and… I believe that’s a question mark in the center?”

“What on earth does that mean?” Mai exclaimed, staring daggers at the oncoming ship as if her eyes could pierce the hull and sink the  _ blasted _ thing; and yes, indeed, it was clear by then that the ship was headed  _ straight  _ for them. 

“Do you think they could be pirates?” Jirard meekly asked, wide eyes darting between the ship and his superiors.

Satch lowered the spyglass, gently handing it back to Jirard, and took a breath, steeling himself. “I think we’d ought to prepare for the worst.”

Distantly, Mai could hear the bickering of Hana and Austin behind her, shouts of  _ “Did you really fall asleep again?!”  _ and  _ “You idiot, do you see that ship?!”  _ at last followed by a proper shout from the crow’s nest;  _ “Oh, uh- Aye! Thar she- uh- sails, I guess? Yeah!” _

The rest followed soon after- Austin dropped down from atop the crow’s nest and scampered off to find the rest of the crew, Hana returned to Mai’s side, and all Mai could really do was grab a harpoon and watch as the oncoming ship crept ever closer. Soon enough, the entire group had gathered on the deck, armed and watching with bated breath- come to think of it, it was probably the quietest Mai had ever seen her crew, apart from the silence necessary for stalking a whale. 

Within moments, the oncoming ship drew close enough to really see; and Mai had to admit, she wasn’t particularly optimistic about  _ anything  _ about this. She had dealt with pirates before during her time on the sea, although never with a crew as small as hers currently was- and while the newcomer wasn’t exactly a  _ dead ringer _ for a pirate ship, she didn’t have many other ideas. The ship certainly wasn’t a fellow whaling ship- she could immediately tell that it was a clipper ship, narrow and built for speed, with relatively little cargo space. The hull seemed to be covered in streaks of chipped, mostly washed away red paint- Mai couldn’t begin to imagine the reason for that- and many of the sails appeared torn or otherwise made ineffectual. And, of course, the black flag remained unrecognizable and utterly vexing.

As the oncoming ship seemed to be swerving closer and preparing to pass them, the trio rushed to prepare the cannons, accompanied by Jirard- devil forbid they should need to use them. The remaining crew could only stand and watch; Hana clinging to Mai's arm, Austin unsubtly cowering behind Satch, Shane staring cold and unflinchingly at the potential enemy- when at last, something broke the uncertain silence.

As the oncoming ship sailed parallel to theirs, a puff of black smoke rose from the deck- followed by… more black smoke, and a flicker of light just big enough to be recognized as  _ flame, _ and one of their sails catching alight. The other ship was still very far away, but the wind carried their voices  _ just _ far enough; and while they could only be heard as unintelligible whispers, Mai could tell there was shouting.

“... They’ve fucked one of their cannons, I believe,” Shane murmured at Mai’s side, low and apathetic as always, but it was one of the few occasions where Mai could hear the amusement in his voice. 

“Seems like it, aye,” Satch replied, adjusting his glasses. “Can’t imagine… how they actually did that, but aye.”

Mai found herself speechless at the sight of the oncoming ship catching ablaze. She couldn’t imagine what number of hazards and incompetencies had led to the ship starting to burn so  _ quickly  _ either, but surely they were numerous. It was a sight straight out of a nightmare; a burning ship on the cold and unforgiving sea, miles and miles from aid- apart from Mai’s own ship, she supposed. While the unconfirmed, but  _ probably  _ pirates were seemingly useless and nothing worth being concerned about, the bright flames against the late evening sky and the hardly audible distant shouts formed a pit in Mai’s stomach. 

Maybe she would regret this, but she couldn’t consider herself a captain if she didn’t  _ do something  _ about this; unlike their cannonball, their plight had hit Mai much too close to home.

Mai sighed, and thumped her harpoon on the deck.

“Jirard- the four of you stay here on deck. Make sure  _ our  _ ship doesn’t catch on fire either. The rest of ye, to your whaleboats!” Mai ordered, whirling around to face her crew. “I, for one, want to know what those good-for-nothing pirates have to say for themselves.”

\--- 

“... So,  _ mateys,  _ how are we feeling?”

Luke knew that his answer to his own question was a strong  _ not great,  _ but he wouldn’t say that out loud; someone had to keep up the morale for the crew. They didn’t exactly  _ have  _ anything but the shreds of their morale at that point. The brig of the ship that they had targeted- and subsequently saved their lives- was utterly miserable. 

They were surrounded by barrels that smelled of  _ oil,  _ or something, which Luke couldn’t say he was a fan of- although he supposed he’d accept it over the smell of smoke. There was nothing but a single lantern illuminating the dark room, on the floor just out of everyone’s reach- and that was all they were allowed. The brig was  _ freezing,  _ which was devilishly combined with the fact that they were all still  _ soaked _ , offered no change of clothes or sympathy blankets, nothing. Luke didn’t even have his nice jacket that he  _ totally didn’t steal- _ he’d lost it in the water when that one weirdly lanky harpooner was trying  _ so hard  _ to drag him onto the whaleboat. 

His fellow crewmen gave about as cheery of a response as he expected. Jimmy groaned, Caddy glared at him, Wallid hit his head against the wall, and Jeff and Ian wouldn’t even look at him.  _ “Shut up, Luke,”  _ was the most he got, muttered by Ian, but his true focus remained solely on the shivering little cat curled up in his lap. 

There was a silver lining to this, Luke supposed; they were all  _ alive. _ Captain MJ, their heart and soul was alive, and if a malfunction like  _ that  _ had happened away from any aid, they likely wouldn’t have been so lucky. There wasn’t much use in pointing that out, though; they were all aware that they were alive, each of them were freezing and exhausted and  _ miserable.  _ Perhaps, soon enough they’d all be dead anyway. Maybe the crew of this ship would throw them overboard, maybe they’d be worked to death, maybe they’d contract pneumonia in this frigid brig and rot here- but as it stood, none of them had much hope. 

“... Well, we’ve got to start doing something. We’re breaking out of here, right?” Luke propositioned, lacking any ideas as to  _ how _ they would do such a thing.

“How are we even meant to do that?” Jimmy countered, extending his tied arms so that they could  _ just barely _ be seen by the light of the lantern. 

“Yeah, and I mean- this crew  _ saved our lives,  _ after we messed up trying to kill them once. Are we really gonna try and kill them  _ again? _ ” Jeff argued, kicking his legs as he spoke- seeing as that was all he could do.

“Well- to be fair, we  _ are  _ pirates,” Caddy pointed out, baring a sliver of a grin, but not much else.

“Yeah, that would be a pirate behavior…” Ian mused, remaining focused on Captain MJ, gently petting her as best as he could with his arms tied together. “... but I don’t know.”

“Also- did you see those  _ harpoons  _ they had,  _ hello? _ Those were terrifying! And we don’t have _ anything!”  _ Jimmy squawked, spiritually pouting, even though his face could hardly be seen. 

“I- Well, I guess we could steal their harpoons, assuming we get out of here,” Wallid suggested, still pressing his head against the wall.

“Wh- I-  _ From  _ them? I don’t know how to fucking wield  _ or  _ defend against a harpoon! That just sounds like a situation in which I would get stabbed! Repeatedly!” Jimmy huffed- and as if right on cue, the door swung open, illuminating the brig.

A pink-haired woman stood in the door, pulling a cart covered with dishes with one hand, and holding a harpoon upright in the other. She looked over the group suspiciously, probably having heard some of the discussion, but she seemed much more…  _ confused,  _ rather than angry at their mentions of escape; and Luke saw that as a win in his book. 

“Well… hello, boys,” the woman began, entering the brig and pushing the door closed behind her. “How are we holding up?”

“Terribly,” Ian deadpanned, barely giving her more than a glance.

“Yeah, I’m really sad,” Jeff added on, frowning at the woman- and Luke genuinely couldn’t tell how serious he was trying to be.

“... Okay, I’m… sorry about that, I suppose,” the woman responded, holding back a bit of laughter. “I… Oh, actually- the captain sent me down to bring you all some food, but I forgot that you were all tied up, so hm…”

“You’re bringing us food?” Luke asked, eyeing everything the woman had to offer- the cart did indeed have food on it, mainly consisting of some… unidentified  _ meat  _ that Luke wasn’t sure about at all. Alongside the dishes were cups, handkerchiefs, and an additional lantern that lit up the brig slightly better- and while it all seemed perfectly fine, Luke still couldn’t be sure about the woman’s intentions. 

“Well- aye, of course,” the woman replied, looking down at her cart and back to Luke. “We have…  _ ethics  _ on this ship, we’re not going to starve you- we’re not  _ pirates.  _ And I’m assuming you’re all hungry?”

“Won’t lie, I haven’t eaten in like- two days?” Jeff noted, really seeming to lay on the pity-me schtick- and Luke supposed that wasn’t a bad strategy.  _ Unless he really was that desperately miserable.  _

“I- Oh my god, well, alright-” the woman stepped away from the cart, thumping her harpoon on the ground. “So, here’s what I want to know. You’re all locked in here anyway, so if I cut off your binds, will you...  _ cause problems? _ I’ll have you know that I have killed many a whale with this  _ exact  _ weapon, and if you test me, you will never eat again.”

“... I mean, I don’t think my word is worth much, considering I’m a pirate- but I’ll mind my own.” Ian promised, staring down the woman calmly. 

“Uh… yeah, same,” Luke echoed, shrugging.

“Yeah, sure, but- what do you mean you’ve killed  _ many a whale?”  _ Jimmy questioned, moving his arms to substitute for air quotes. “If you’re not a pirate, I’d think you’re obliged to be honest.”

“I am being honest. This is a  _ whaling  _ ship- I’ve shipped the seas for almost ten years now,” the woman explained, staring Jimmy down incredulously, yet seemingly to grow… mildly amused. 

“Ohhh, okay, that  _ does  _ explain everyone having harpoons,” Wallid noted, tilting his head to the side.

“That’s- okay, I guess it does, but it’s still kinda scary, carrying them around everywhere. Why, like- hunt whales? That sounds… difficult,” Jimmy continued, seeming to grow increasingly invested in the woman’s answers.

“Well- ha, it is difficult,” the woman explained, relaxing a bit more onto her harpoon. Luke had to contemplate- either everyone was doing a  _ surprisingly _ good job at getting her to let her guard down, in pursuit of a great escape; or everyone was getting comfortable just for the hell of it, because they were stuck there. Luke had a feeling it was the latter- and he couldn’t deny that he was falling victim to that feeling too. “Whales are mighty and deadly creatures. But we hunt them for the oil- it’s in every lamp and lantern, and it’s a business that pays quite handsomely.”

_ … Oh boy. _

Just from the mention of being paid, Luke noticed _every single one_ of his friends perk up- and Luke had to admit he did too. As much as he hated to admit it, that was the point where he essentially _gave up-_ _the whole pirates thing had a good run, but this is it._

“... How handsomely?” Caddy asked, giving the woman that devilish glance of his- and the woman broke into a smile, signifying the last barrier being broken down.

“Well, it depends on your position- but it’s certainly more than a living. Especially considering all of your needs are met while on the ship, you’re fed and get your quarters for free… it’s nice enough, in my opinion,” the woman replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “... I don’t think I was meant to do the pitch this early. Is that what’s happening?”

“I mean… well, what choice do we have?” Jeff conceded, looking around the room at his mates and finding the same answer written on each of their faces;  _ not much.  _

“Yeah, I mean… it sounds pretty nice,” Jimmy agreed, eyebrows raised. “A little messed up, ‘cause you’re like- murdering those animals, but… it’s interesting, I can tell you that.”

“... Well, you can have the night to think about it,” the woman concluded, stepping towards Jeff with her harpoon. “Right now, you all should eat- so remember, don’t cause any  _ problems,”  _ she reiterated, releasing Jeff from his binds in one clean cut. 

“Won’t, we promise,” Jeff assured, rubbing his wrists. “Although, I’ll just warn you upfront, we don’t  _ think. _ ”

“Neither does half the crew here, you’ll fit in fine,” the woman commented, moving right along to Ian. At that moment, she also seemed to finally notice the cat on Ian’s lap- immediately swooning over it. “Oh- Oh my goodness, hi baby…”

“Her name is MJ,” Ian noted, predicting the woman’s question. “She’s a tough little thing, handling the sea. She’s our captain.”

The woman crouched down, scratching MJ’s ear with the biggest smile on her face- and MJ seemed to love it too. “Well  _ hello,  _ captain MJ! I’m Hana, and I can get you some whale steak too if you want…”

“You introduce yourself to the cat before any of us,” Wallid commented, smirking at the woman- seemingly named  _ Hana.  _ The woman who  _ also _ apparently just took MJ’s story at face value, without a shred of doubt- which Luke supposed he could agree was the kind of respect MJ deserved. He just had to note, he never imagined explaining her would go so smoothly. 

“Wh- Well, you’re all pirates, so am I  _ so _ wrong?” Hana retorted, standing back up and moving along to Caddy’s binds.

“Honestly, I’d do the same,” Ian commented, now taking full advantage of getting to pet MJ without his arms being tied together.

“That’s because you hate everyone, Ian,” Luke argued, holding his arms out in front of him for when Hana got around to his binds.

“Not true,” Ian replied, and that was all he felt like saying to defend himself.

“Well, I suppose you’re right- I should give you all a formal introduction to myself, assuming you all stick around. My name is Hana Mizuno- this ship is called the Morning Glory, and I am her first mate,” Hana announced, punctuating her statement with a swift cut to Luke’s binds. “And you all are?” she asked, gesturing with the flat end of her harpoon. 

“Uh… oh no, we never did figure out our pirate names…” Jeff murmured, pressing his hand to his cheek.

“We never  _ needed  _ pirate names, they’re just our  _ names _ ,” Ian replied, rolling his eyes and remaining focused on MJ, as always. 

“Uh- Well they’re still cool, but- whatever. I’m, uh- Jeffrey Fabre, call me Jeff.”

Hana smiled, and names went around the room as she continued with freeing the crew. Ian introduced himself in a deadpan as always, Caddy with the mysterious moniker of Caddicarus- which Ian swiftly ruined by calling him Jim- so on and so forth. Soon enough, everyone was freed, Hana had passed out a dish to everyone, had warned everyone that whale steak was blubbery but that they’d have to get used to it, and… things were  _ nice,  _ somehow. Despite them literally being prisoners, in a brig on an unfamiliar ship that was freezing and uncaring- things had taken a turn for the better,  _ some-freaking-how. _

Luke had to accept that they had utterly failed as pirates- hardly having been at sea for more than a few months, not having robbed anyone except for the initial owner of their ship, and even having  _ burned down _ their own damn ship- but he couldn’t find it in himself to be all that disappointed. Maybe this was for the best- at the very least, he didn’t  _ hate it,  _ not yet. Whale steak  _ was  _ blubbery and weird, but it beat going hungry. 

“You can thank Shane for that specific steak, by the way- he’s the one who got the killing strike,” Hana noted, standing by the door as everyone ate. “He’s the big muscle-y one, short hair- he’s British, you’ll know him whenever you meet him.”

“Well- send him our thanks,” Luke replied, fully conceding to this entire outcome.

“Also, this is unrelated, but I just want to say- I  _ love  _ your hair,” Wallid commented, mid-bite, but still charming enough to make Hana smile. Luke had to agree, it was shockingly well maintained, considering the circumstances. It was silky, some parts were braided, flowing down to the middle of her back- and it was very much  _ pink _ . Luke had no idea  _ how, _ but he certainly respected it.

“Oh- Thank you! It’s all, uh… whale blood, and stuff.”

“Really?” Jeff asked, wide eyed and buying every second of it.

“Sure,” Hana shrugged, leaving it at that.

As they all finished, Hana rounded up their dishes, quickly grabbed a change of clothes for them all at Luke’s request, and gave MJ a round of goodbye pets before leaving them one again in the brig, still dark- but now  _ feeling _ much warmer.

And that, indeed, was the last night they all spent as pirates.

_ Good riddance. _

\---

“So, Mai… How opposed would you be to having a cat as a co-captain?” Hana muttered, crawling into bed with Mai- it had been a  _ very long, very intense  _ day. 

“... What?” Mai mumbled, sleepily turning over to look at Hana. “I’m the captain, wh- Are you talking about the pirates, and stuff? Wh' happened?”

“I… Well, I didn’t really _mean_ to pitch to them as soon as I did, but it was really easy. I don’t know if you noticed, but they’re kind of  _ terrible _ pirates- and they have a cat, don’t ask me how- but she was basically their captain because they had some… anarchy thing going on, I think. And now, because it’s really  _ just _ either they stay stuck in the brig forever, or we kill them, I think they’re interested in working for us.”

“... But they’re pirates.”

“Yeah, but they’re  _ bad _ at being pirates, and they’re actually kind of nice. We could use a bigger crew to take care of the ship, have someone other than me and Satch taking turns being the cook- someone useful for the crow’s nest…” Hana continued, snuggling closer to Mai.

“... But they tried to kill us?”

“They didn’t. They failed really miserably. And now they’re gonna  _ not _ do that, hopefully.”

Mai stayed silent for a moment, before grunting and wrapping her arms around Hana.

“I’ll think about it in the morning, I guess.”

“Mhm. Goodnight, captain.”

“Aye…”

**Author's Note:**

> gays rights to hunt whales


End file.
